Work finished after six in the evening. The sky had already darkened, and looking up against the glow of the streetlights, the dense, heavy clouds felt oppressive, as if it were about to rain. The photographer was heading off to have dinner with a local friend in Xiamen and wouldn't be joining them, so Xiao Tang drove the three of them back in her Changan mini-truck. Ruan Qiuji noticed that Qi Bailu’s styling before the film wrapped had been modeled after Xiao Tang herself—straight bangs and long rhinestone earrings—except Qi Bailu’s bangs had been a clip-on hairpiece.
Lin Yuewei sat in the passenger seat, while Ruan Qiuji and Qi Bailu sat in the back. Qi Bailu guessed this must be Ruan Qiuji’s first time in such a vehicle because the moment the truck gave a violent lurch, Ruan Qiuji instinctively reached out to grab his hand. Qi Bailu watched his expression, waiting for a reaction, but Ruan Qiuji remained quite calm. His face didn't move a muscle; in the darkness, he simply silently squeezed Qi Bailu's fingers. Qi Bailu began to suspect he had come along specifically to take liberties.
There was no music playing in the front; instead, the radio was tuned to a local station. Two hosts were rambling on, telling a series of jokes that weren't particularly funny in slight regional accents, which reminded Ruan Qiuji of the "I am Qiuji" incident from before. Most of the conversation in the truck was between Xiao Tang and Lin Yuewei, discussing what to eat later. When the two in the back remained silent, Lin Yuewei turned around to ask, "Is there anything you two want to eat?"
Qi Bailu snapped out of his thoughts and said anything was fine. Ruan Qiuji said he was fine with anything as well. Lin Yuewei grumbled, "...That’s the same as saying nothing!" Xiao Tang thoughtfully asked if they had any dietary restrictions. Ruan Qiuji said no, and Qi Bailu shook his head in agreement. Lin Yuewei suddenly felt that, in just a short amount of time, these two seemed to have taken the same side; even double-sided tape wasn't this effective.
After about twenty minutes, the truck stopped at a nearby wet market. Lin Yuewei and Xiao Tang took charge of the shopping; fearing the men wouldn't know how to pick quality produce, they only sent them to buy scallions and shiitake mushrooms, intending for them to carry the bags later. The market wasn't very crowded now, but it was still a squeeze as they walked through. Lightbulbs hung over the stalls, illuminating the vegetables and fruits in vivid shades of green.
For Ruan Qiuji, the experience was quite novel. Qi Bailu saw how out of place he looked in this environment and thought to himself that they truly had nothing in common. But when he turned to pick out the mushrooms and saw the way the stall owner looked at him, he suddenly realized that he, too, had long since changed.
Zheng Kunyu’s treatment of him like a caged canary, the years of luxury, and the privilege of beauty had turned him into the same kind of person as Ruan Qiuji. He had once vowed to himself that he, Zheng Kunyu, and Ruan Qiuji would never belong to the same world. But if he truly cast aside his celebrity halo to become an ordinary person again, would he be content?
Qi Bailu dithered for a moment, lowering his head to pick through the mushrooms. The mushroom in his hand was like a small brown spinning top, whirling into a vortex that sucked him in. That other world was a paradise flowing with milk and honey, while the real world was the "ding" of the scale and the stall owner reminding him: eighteen yuan and fifty cents.
They walked forward a bit further, Ruan Qiuji carrying the bag for him. "Are they fresh?" Ruan Qiuji asked.
Qi Bailu waited two seconds before glancing at him. "I think so."
Unaware of Qi Bailu’s inner turmoil, the two walked down the long row of stalls looking for a place that sold scallions, eventually buying a small bundle. As they passed several more stalls, Qi Bailu suddenly said, "I just remembered a story I read in a book."
Ruan Qiuji signaled with his eyes that he was listening.
"Once, there was a wicked woman who did many bad things in her life. After she died, she went to hell. Her guardian angel wanted to save her and remembered a single good deed she had done, so the angel went to plead with God. Because she had once given a single stalk of scallion to a passing beggar, God said..."
A passerby squeezed between them, momentarily separating them. Once the person had passed, Qi Bailu continued, "God said, take that scallion and use it to pull her up to Heaven. If the scallion breaks, she must stay in the sea of fire. The angel reached the scallion down to the woman, and she was almost out, but the other sinners in the fire grabbed onto her, wanting to go up with her. She kicked them away, saying the scallion was hers alone. The moment she said it—"
Someone bumped into Qi Bailu’s shoulder, causing him to pause. Ruan Qiuji, who had already foreseen the ending, said softly, "Did she fall back into the sea of fire?"
"Yes. The scallion broke, and the angel left in tears."
Ruan Qiuji was silent for a good while. He certainly didn't believe in God or parables; good and evil were the same to him, and he had never been a good person. Qi Bailu continued, "I’ve always remembered that story. Most people only give away one stalk of scallion in their lives; they’re only willing to share a tiny bit of kindness and love. I’m the same."
"You aren't that bad."
Qi Bailu stopped with him in a quiet spot, his eyes fixed on the butcher stall across from them. "Maybe. But when you said those things, I thought about playing a trick on you again. Because I didn't dare believe you. I was afraid you would eventually mock me, laugh at me, and feel that I wasn't good enough for you. I was afraid we would end up hating each other. Just like when I started dating you out of a desire for revenge against Zheng Kunyu—you saw it, I was tormenting him too. I’m not innocent."
Ruan Qiuji was silent for a moment before asking, "Do you still want me to leave?"
Qi Bailu looked into his eyes and said, "I’m offering you a little scallion."
He was holding onto a little scallion. One might not be enough to reach Heaven, but he was holding on for now. If one couldn't even spare a scallion for a lover, who else could they give it to?
Ruan Qiuji seemed uncharacteristically stunned. He knew in his heart that he was the truly wicked one; he was the one who should be saying those words. From the very beginning, he had coveted Qi Bailu’s love and had used every means possible to snatch him away. His gentlemanly demeanor was nothing more than a tool to easily manipulate others. Deep down, he looked down on almost everything: Lin Yuewei’s lofty pride, Guan Chengzhu’s contentment with mediocrity, Cheng Wenhui’s philistinism, and Zheng Kunyu’s obsession. Even with Qi Bailu, he had refused to give his heart fully because he cared too much about the man's past. Ruan Qiuji knew he was an arrogant man.
Slabs of raw pork hung from iron hooks, skinned and turned into red-and-white, blood-scented dead things, swinging back and forth in mid-air. Because they stood there for so long, the owner, who was loudly hacking meat with a cleaver, glanced at them a few times.
Qi Bailu’s gaze was clear. Over these past few years, he seemed to have changed, yet also seemed not to have changed at all. Ruan Qiuji suddenly reached out and pulled him into his arms. Qi Bailu hadn't expected this and gave a startled shiver. With so many people around, how did he dare! The butcher stopped cutting meat entirely, eyes wide as he watched two men embrace in broad daylight.
Ruan Qiuji placed his hand at the nape of Qi Bailu’s neck, restraining the urge to pull him tighter. He said, word by word, "Bailu, you are better than me. Much better."
Qi Bailu couldn't see his face, but he could hear the heavy tone in his voice. After a moment, feeling his ears burn with embarrassment because people were watching, he tentatively placed one hand on Ruan Qiuji’s waist. Ruan Qiuji glanced at the butcher stall; the owner quickly lowered his head and resumed his hacking, but he did so distractedly, stealing glances every now and then.
After a short while, Ruan Qiuji released Qi Bailu and took the plastic bag of scallions from his hand. It was as if the tide had suddenly receded, and the noisy sounds of their surroundings rushed back in: footsteps, people haggling over prices, the sound of meat being chopped, the rustle of bags, and the sound of someone selling spring rolls nearby. Qi Bailu said, "They haven't come over yet."
Ruan Qiuji looked at him, but Qi Bailu looked everywhere except at him. He walked ahead and said, "...Let's go look at that."
Qi Bailu bought a large quantity of spring rolls in one go. Once no one was staring at them anymore, Qi Bailu finally looked Ruan Qiuji in the eye, saying in a slightly scolding tone, "In public. If there's a next time, I'll chop your hand off."
Ruan Qiuji replied, "It seems I should buy insurance for my hands."
"..."
Lin Yuewei and Xiao Tang had bought a mountain of ingredients, including various types of seafood. They were exhausted from carrying the heavy bags, and when they saw the two men standing there idly, Lin Yuewei stopped dead in her tracks. She had gone out to buy groceries, yet it looked like they were on a date at the wet market. Qi Bailu took the bags from them and made Ruan Qiuji carry half. Lin Yuewei gave them a very knowing look.
The chemistry between people is a mysterious thing; sometimes you can see it at a single glance. On the way back, Qi Bailu and Ruan Qiuji talked more, though it was mostly Ruan Qiuji sharing stories of his travels abroad. In her mind, Lin Yuewei officially stamped them as "in a relationship." One look at Qi Bailu’s face and she knew he was a goner.
What Lin Yuewei didn't expect was that Ruan Qiuji could actually cook, which made her look at him with a bit more respect. She and Qi Bailu sat on the sofa watching TV while Xiao Tang taught Ruan Qiuji how to make Minnan dishes. After flipping through a few channels, Qi Bailu asked, "Is *Sorrows of the West Wind* on at this time?"
"During prime time?"
Lin Yuewei tuned to the local station Qi Bailu mentioned, and sure enough, the drama was already airing. It wasn't Qi Bailu’s turn to appear yet, so they watched the male lead, played by Cai Tongyue, engage in a battle of wits with secret agents. Lin Yuewei started laughing after a while. When Qi Bailu asked what she was laughing at, she said, "Seeing him is just too immersion-breaking." Then, Lin Yuewei recounted Cai Tongyue’s recent scandals, including how he had pursued a female co-star on the same set. When she found out about his messy private life, she had been so angry she hit him with an iPad. Cai Tongyue had been so scared he ran away on the spot, but he still ended up in the hospital from the hit.
Qi Bailu found the image quite funny as well. Two of Cai Tongyue’s dramas were quite popular lately; when they had left the wet market, they had even seen Cai Tongyue’s face and the milk he endorsed printed on the side of a passing bus. He seemed to have stopped filming movies; the market had been poor the last two years, and there weren't many good scripts.
At first, they were just laughing quietly, but then something else was said, and their laughter reached the kitchen. Lin Yuewei laughed so hard she leaned her head on Qi Bailu’s shoulder. Qi Bailu watched his own scenes on the TV, laughing helplessly. Ruan Qiuji rarely saw him looking so relaxed. The hand cutting the mushrooms slowed down; perhaps sensing Ruan Qiuji’s gaze, Qi Bailu turned his head slightly, his smile not yet faded, and his eyes met Ruan Qiuji’s.
Ruan Qiuji rarely felt this desire to make time stand still. Qi Bailu was more beautiful when he smiled than when he didn't, his eyes like pools of spring water. If he had to use one word to describe this moment, it would be "warmth."
***
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Countless Blossoms: The Actor's Gamble | Chapter 92 | A Single Stalk of Scallion | Novela.app | Novela.app
